southern heart.

If he kept denying it, Adam would only latch onto that even more, so Javi just shrugged. He’d been doing a lot of that lately. Pretending not to care about a lot of things. “She has an interesting personality,” Javi said carefully. “I did not know she is your cousin. Who is staying with you. So her last name is McDowell?”

The way Javi says enough to say something but not actually answer the question has Adam curious, but he won’t torture them both by dwelling on it. “Yeah. She does.” He nods, trying his best not to laugh.

“Ohh,” she reached out for the beer, allowing herself to take a swig before answering him, “I sure am, are you? ”

“It was okay, there were a few that got it and a few that didn’t,” she shrugged her shoulders, “you could’ve shown off some of the moves I showed you, help them out.” Ro laughed at the idea before shifting her weight from one leg to the other. “Thought about teaching some Persian dances too, but there was a lot of struggle with the first dance lesson. And I’m pretty sure I frustrated way too many tonight.”

“Yeah, it ain’t so bad,” he tells her, teasing smile and all.

“That’s not… me callin’ you old, I swear! Older for both of us!”

“He’s really the best, ain’t he? His voice just… soothes me. Makes me nostalgic for a time before. My momma used to sing him all of the time ‘round the house, growin’ up. My dad hated it, but I… it was magic.”

“I’m just messin’ with you. I know I’m old.” He’ll be another year closer to fifty in just a couple months, though he hasn’t bothered to dwell on his age since he was in his twenties.

“Pretty efficient way, if ya ask me.” She joked, because, well, labor had been anything but. “How old are your girls now?” Everyone in town was always a small bit familiar to her, but being gone for so long meant Dot had a bit of a hard time remembering who was who and whose parents were whose.

“Oh yeah. Real smooth, simple process.” Having been right by Nora’s mother’s side during labor he knows that’s far from the truth, though he really wished it was.

@frostfordstart​ 

“Twenty dollars right now, all yours, no strings attached,” Sol states, holding up the twenty he spoke of, before adding one string adjacent caveat, “If you can guess the weirdest cause of a fire I’ve ever uncovered. One guess maximum. Go.”

“Weirdest, huh? In this town?” He thinks it over for a minute before throwing out his guess with a shrug. “Did someone try cookin’ raw pasta in a microwave or somethin’?”

@frostfordstart​

“Dude, be gentle.” Ace groaned as the other dropped him rather abruptly  — or was it just him feeling it that way? — on the seat and his head spun and throbbed as if someone was hammering inside. It had probably been a bad idea to drink that much and he was facing the consequences now in the form of a raging headache. “Wait, what’d ya’ do with my glass?” The words coming out slurring. “It was still full!”

“You mean that drink you chugged about five minutes ago? It sure ain’t full no more.” Normally he doesn’t worry about Ace quite this much, and he could just being having a night out let loose, but Adam can’t remember a time he’s seen him this drunk.

“See! You already know what to do,” Babs smiles as she watches Adam open the beer. (Hell, she could go for one herself right now – maybe something stronger – that wasn’t the point).  She pulls a stool out from the kitchen counter, taking a seat and folding her hands together before resting them on the countertop.  “So, um, as of the night of the basket auction I do…actually have a boyfriend now. All official and stuff. I’m dating Nash Gordon. And it’s going really good. I really like him and he really likes me, too. And I’m really happy.”

She nudges the box of donuts in his direction, just in case he needs them.

Out of all the things Babs could have told him in this moment, her dating Nash Gordon isn’t one he would have ever guessed. He’s quiet for a moment, but nods.

“Nash Gordon? The... the one I know?” He’s known Nash since he was a kid, which has him contemplating the age difference, but it’s not important enough for Adam to dwell on for more than a few seconds.

“Alright, I’m gonna switch it up, play somethin’ a bit older. One of my favorite singers, really. I listen to him all of the time.”

Soon, Operator (That’s Not the Way It Feels) by Jim Croce was playing on the deck, record spinning clearly. “This is one of my momma’s favorite records.”

“Older for you, or older for me?” He says that just mess with Rory, and gives him a smile.

“Never too busy for a friend,” he replied, jogging across the short distance from where he was standing to Adam, a warm smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “What can I do for you?”

“It’s about my girls. I’ve been goin’ back and forth about somethin’ for hell... a year now? Maybe longer.” Not only does he trust Owen’s opinion on this, but he trusts that the news won’t get back to his kids before he tells them himself.

“Right? I think there’s a lot to be said about the ancient stones and crystals. There’s a reason our ancestors used them,” Scarlett said, a smile on her lips. “Here, give these to your girls. I got more crystals than I know what to do with,” she laughed, handing him some of the turquoise ones she had. It would be good to get rid of the extras. “You heard me talk about smudge sticks yet?” 

"Plenty of reasons, I’d bet. Especially when you think about how a big rock in space controls the tides.” It’s due to gravity, sure, but minerals have already been proven to have some health benefits. He prefers to keep his mind open to the possibilities.

@adam-mcdowell​

“I know it looks like I’m about to drop some bad news for you, but I swear on god that I’m not,” Babs prefaces as she lays the box of donuts and the six pack of beer on the kitchen counter in front of Adam. 

“But I am, absolutely, trying to butter you up so that you’ll be in a more positive space to recieve the information that I am about to give you.”

Adam eyes the gifts Babs brings in with his usual wariness. At least she comes right out and says she’s trying to soften whatever blow she’s about to give, but it doesn’t ease the nerves he’s feeling. “Alright...” He starts, already opening a beer to prepare.

“Oh? You’re gonna hold her back, huh?” She jokes, raising an eyebrow. “I seem to remember you sittin’ back and sippin’ your tea while she threw me around in her fuckin’ wrestling ring thing. We were seven! But you’re gonna hold her back now. Uh-huh. Sure.” Her playful smile softens and she sighs. “You don’t think runnin’ off at seventeen was wise?” They hadn’t engaged in this conversation before. He’d accepted her arrival with little question. “I wish you’d hover a little more, actually. Would make defyin’ you that much more fun.”

“Aw, c’mon now. That’s just what kids do, ain’t it? I broke it up when it got too outta hand.” He says so with a chuckle, remembering when all his girls were so tiny and rambunctious. Feels like yesterday and lifetimes ago. When she asks about her decision at seventeen not being wise, Adam gives a noncommittal shrug. “Even if somethin’ ain’t wise, it doesn’t mean you didn’t still have to do it.”

“They were a good group this year. Though a few may have caused some extra gray hairs if I’m honest.” Zach chuckled, thinking about how awful of a drive it would be. “If I do it, I’ll make a big long road trip out of it. Camp out in the car and get in touch with nature.” At the mention of Adam’s family, Zach grinned. “Family time is always good! My mom has roped me in to helping her with some function. All I know is I’m going to have to make a shit ton of tamales.”

“The first of many, no doubt,” Adam jokes. He’s surprised he isn’t sporting a full head of grey hair between his daughters and his students. “You ought to, especially if you’ve got anyone who wants to come along. Ain’t always time for trips like those.” He often overestimated how much time he had when he was younger. It flies by.

“Oh, please don’t remind me,” they pinched the bridge of their nose. “Just put me in a wheelchair and push me around,” they chuckled with a shrug of their shoulder. They both knew that was something Rian wouldn’t want. They were as active as they could be, considering their circumstances.

“I guess I’m gonna have to start changing that up,” they raised an eyebrow, “I can’t be predictable.” It would probably scare him if they start acting real sweet, but they’ll do what they have to do. He can ignore their comment about not accepting compliments, for now. They will corner him about it later on. “That may be true, but I wouldn’t put this pass you to try to throw me off.”

“Yeah, I’d give that about two minutes before you hated it.” Maybe even less, but he’s being generous.

“Yeah, that’s what I said. Kyle is so annoyin’. Doesn’t matter how many times I tell ‘im I can go home on my own, he just decides to take me. Ya know he doesn’t even know my name, right?” Still ranting about the one and only Kyle Sullivan, she rolled her eyes and went to sit on one of the stools, placing a hand on her chin, elbow rested on the counter top.

“Anyway, I’m gon’ stop drinkin’ ‘cause I’m tired of seein’ his lil half priced Jafar lookin’ face.” In reality, she was grateful that Kyle took her home sometimes. But, she wasn’t sure why he did it in the first placed. He consistently referred to her as Nova and was rude any chance he got. Eventually, she got over the small bit of physical attraction she had to him. 

“I dunno, peanut. You say you can do a lot of things when you’re drunk,” he teases, smiling to himself as he flips the pancakes over. “And I’m sure he knows your name. He’s probably just givin’ you a hard time.”

“Oh, really, that’s how that works?” Dot played along as Destiny explained to her, in some very mumbly words, that her and her sister came from storks to their door. Laughing, she glanced up at the nearest person to them in the park, “Did you here that? All babies come from storks.” // @frostfordstart​

Adam smiles down at Dot and her daughters, briefly missing when his own girls were that young. “I sure did. Y’know, I got two little girls of my own, and they came that same way. Stork dropped ‘em off safe and sound on my doorstep.”